Oct. 7 – “That the Marche region was a popular destination for American tourists was never a mystery, but now we have confirmation of this positive trend,” comments the Regional Councilor for Culture, Pietro Marcolini, while in New York for a promotional full-day event for Marche tourism. The event, which took place on October 3, saw a delegation from the Marche hold a series of meetings at the ENIT headquarters, with tour operators like Mapta and representatives from major New York publishing houses, such as Travel & Leisure. The successful series of b2b meetings included 12 Marche tour operators were able to present the region to about 60 U.S. travel agencies. The meeting was attended by vice consul Lucia Pasqualini, ENIT director Eugenio Magnani, and Italian Cultural Center representative Fabio Troisi. “Tourism in the Marche – said in a statement the region – is growing and still has plenty of potential thanks to a wide offer that fully meets the demands for art, nature, gastronomy, and wellness.” The recent promotional campaign, that sees Dustin Hoffman as regional sponsor, gave the Region excellent visibility in the media, with articles published in major U.S. magazines and newspapers. Alongside a report by Christopher Salomon in 2005, a 2010 AARP magazine article elected the Marche one of the 5 places in the world where to live after retirement. This added to a series of articles by Helene Cooper (winner of the 2012 Urbino Press Award) in the New York Times on September 9 2013 dedicated to Acqualagna and Urbino’s truffle hunting, highlighting Urbino’s candidature as European City of Culture 2019. The United States, after Germany, represent the first international market for our country, with approximately 4.2 million arrivals. For years, Italy has had the best tourist appeal and appears to be the second European destination.
